From Southall to suicide attacks: the fightback

Share via

When Ahmed Jumale retired from the Somali Army and moved to Southall in West
London in the early 1990s he was ranked colonel.

This month the soft-spoken 65-year-old came out of retirement to command the
Somali armed forces in their daily battle against al-Shabaab, an Islamist
extremist group that has declared its allegiance to al-Qaeda.

“I accepted the job because the problem is no longer between Somalis but
between al-Qaeda and the Somali people,” Brigadier-General Jumale said.

Al-Shabaab has been on the offensive since May last year, extending its
Taleban-style rule across much of the country. Intelligence sources believe
that